Faux

Faux

Faux (like "foe") is a French word for false or fake. It is often used in English phrases such as faux pearls, faux fur, and faux pas.

When manufacturing faux objects or materials, an attempt is often made to create products which will resemble the imitated items as closely as possible. However, some products are intentionally made to look "faux", for example, faux furs made for prospective buyers who want their fur to be recognizable as imitation due to controversy over the use and manufacture of real animal furs.

Faux materials are produced in a variety of ways, for example faux finishes, such as Terrazzo and scagliola, generally made with marble dust in a plaster binder, yielding a hard material that will take a polish. To imitate marbles, porphyry, and other stones, "faux finishes" are often painted using spatterdash, sponging, and feather-streaking techniques on gessoed and painted surfaces.